


Uneasy Alliances

by rositalagata



Series: Kollaris Legacy- Missing Moments [1]
Category: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Disabled Character, Gen, Panic Attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Supportive Sibling Relationship, because every story is a little better with some useless lesbians, look there's no way Theron and the agent's first meeting went smoothly, pre-Female Jedi Knight | Hero of Tython/Lana Beniko
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:07:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25179691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rositalagata/pseuds/rositalagata
Summary: Valerian Hyllus' meant to spend his day engaging in some leisurely infiltration and espionage, not being nearly crushed to death in a sinking underwater laboratory. His day only got worse from there.Elianna Kollaris meant to spend her day providing a diversion for an ally's surveillance work, not talking her brother out of committing murder. Her day only got more complicated from there.---Set after The Depths of Manaan
Relationships: Male Imperial Agent & Female Jedi Knight, Male Imperial Agent | Cipher Nine & Theron Shan
Series: Kollaris Legacy- Missing Moments [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1824148
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	1. Chapter 1

Valerian Hyllus walked into the conference room that had become the base of operations in Manaan. Or rather, he squelched into the room, because the scarred young man was soaked with seawater from the ends of his hair all the way down to the tip of his prosthetic toe. “Well, that could have gone better. Do we have any towels here Lana? I think my pistol is the only dry thing on me and my leg gets stiff if I let salt dry in the joints.”

“Welcome back Commander. No towels, unfortunately. I am glad you are only damp instead of crushed to death in a sinking research lab,” Lana replied. She was far too busy trying to track the traitors to look up from her computer as Val dropped into a chair at her conference table.

“Great. I’m sure I appreciate not being fish food.”

“I am sure the fungi would have gotten to most of your remains before the fish. I hear their population is at an all-time high.” A hint of wry humor crinkled the corners of her yellow eyes.

“Well at least you’re in a good mood. Now, where’s the heater in here and who the fuck is this guy? Some sort of submarine rescue pilot you found?” Val gestured to the other man at the table, who had so far watched the exchange quietly with a raised eyebrow.

“No, but he managed quite effectively. I did not have enough hands to rescue you and track Arkous at the same time, so he has saved us the trouble of picking up the traitors’ trail once more.”

“Huh. Thanks then.”

“Welcome,” the stranger stood to offer his hand as he replied. “No need to introduce yourself Cipher; your reputation precedes you. Name’s Theron Shan, Republic Strategic Information Service.”

Valerian leapt to his feet, blaster drawn and aimed at Theron before the other man could finish naming his agency. “Lana. Why the fuck did you let one of THEM in?” he growled, attention trained on Theron. “We’ve clearly been compromised. Start wiping the systems and I’ll take care of this one.”

“Commander, no,” Lana exclaimed, her urgent tone belying her slow, deliberate rise from her chair. “Theron is an ally in all this. We share a common interest; he’s been betrayed just as we have.”

“So, this is what my colleagues mean about Imperial hospitality. Well I won’t step in next time you’re about to drown.” Theron held stock-still, staring down the barrel of the enemy spy’s gun, hand still extended in greeting. He somehow still managed to sound like he was throwing up his hands in frustration.

“Do that. I’d rather have chanced the swim,” Val snapped back.

“Theron, you are _not_ helping. Commander, put your gun away and let me explain.”

“You have one minute.” Val didn’t move a muscle.

Lana glanced to the gun, back to Val’s face, and sighed. “I bumped into Theron while we were both hacking into the lab's systems. He became suspicious of Darok, the colonel who commanded the Korriban attack, just as we felt something off about Arkous’ infiltration of Tython. Today proved that Darok and Arkous are together, sabotaging Republic and Empire alike. To stop them wreaking havoc, we’ll need help to follow leads on Darok. Republic help. Our interests align, and we need every advantage so please do not shoot a potential asset.”

“Lana, you’re a good analyst and an even better tactician, but you’re green as grass in the information business."

"My bad feelings about Arkos were correct; trust my good feeling about Theron."

"The SIS doesn’t fucking help us. He will use us then drop us in a lurch like so much hot garbage as soon as-,” Val abruptly cut off his tirade at the sounds of footsteps from the doorway.

* * *

“Theron? What have you found? I came as soon as I could, but the council sent me on an urgent errand to Corellia.” A towering woman swept into the conference room, seemingly oblivious to the other occupants.

“Master Jedi. Am I glad to see you.” Theron let out a breath, relieved to have reinforcements though still eyeing the blaster aimed between his eyes. “Let’s hope this introduction goes better than the last one: Jedi Master Elianna Kollaris, meet Lana Beniko, Imperial Ministry of War and fully armed Sith Lord as well as-”

“Val?” Elianna cut Theron off when she took in the Imperials in the room. “Val what are you doing here? When I holoed last week they said you were still bogged down in that mess on Oricon. Why are you dripping everywhere? And why are you aiming a blaster at Theron?” The knight froze as her attention focused on Val. For all his apparent grim resolve, his eyes were glazed over, distant. She approached him like she might a feral nexu- shrinking her stance to appear less imposing-, confusion wafting off her furrowed brows.

“Annie. Figures you’d get dragged into a clusterfuck as big as this one. I’m wet because a Sith and some punk ass Republic Army bimbo tried to drown me. And you know damn well why my blaster is out: all the caution in the galaxy is worth shit if the SIS can just waltz into my conference room.” Not even Elianna’s sudden arrival could shake Val’s sights off Theron.

“Technically, Darok and Arkous tried to crush you to death,” Lana couldn’t help correcting.

“Wait,” Theron frowned as he glanced between the knight and the spy, “you two…know each other?”

“Obviously,” Val bit out.

"We fought the White Maw together on Hoth.” Pieces of the situation slid into place for Elianna as she spoke: her brother disliked surprises on the best of days. With the unannounced appearance of an enemy spy, Val was almost quivering with barely-contained panic. “Val, Theron is fine. He’s one of the most principled people I’ve worked with and he’s not out to sabotage this mission. Take a breath.” Val only clenched his jaw harder in response. “That can’t be good for your teeth,” she quipped. No reaction. Clearly, she would have to take more drastic measures, or someone would end up bleeding all over the floor. “Val. We both know you don’t need that weapon to take out an enemy so put the blaster away before I take it myself."

For a full ten seconds Val glared obstinately at Theron, a tremor creeping into his stabilizing hand. 

"Hey, this isn't Nar Shaddaa, and if you can't calm down on your own I'm going to holo you-know-who for help and we both know he won't shy away from sharing personal details in company." That threat made an impact. Elianna had no use for bluffs; she wouldn't hesitate to call their father, even in front of a Sith and an SIS agent, not if Val might listen.

Val could not expose his family to SIS prying. “Fine,” he growled through his teeth, shoving his blaster into its holster. “I’m going for a walk. I’ll be back in ten.”

As her brother attempted to stalk out of the room (the effect rather ruined by the squelching of his boots and by his walking backwards to keep Theron in sight), Elianna told him, “I’ll sort something out here. Catch." She tossed him her pocket holo. "Ask Doc to bring you some towels. Or better yet, holo your daughter.”

Once Val had disappeared out the door and around the corner, Theron coughed nervously and shook out tense muscles. “Not that I don’t enjoy threats to my life as much as the next guy, but what was that about?”

Lana could only shrug as she sat back down to her computer, but Elianna replied, “He’s been fighting this war for the better part of a decade. No one lives through that without getting a little twitchy.”

Theron raised his eyebrows. “That was ‘a little twitchy’?”

“He’s faced down multiple Dark Council members and his run-ins with your agency are still the worst parts of his career. I don’t judge.”

“That can't be right. Our records say Cipher Nine works counter-terrorism, not counter-intelligence or infiltration.”

“I doubt even the Empire keeps full records on their Cipher agents, there’s no way the SIS could piece together anything complete. Val earned scars in the field, front lines and beyond; Hoth was hardly a terrorist hotbed. He doesn’t share details, but I can guess.”

Theron nodded grudgingly, carefully processing and reevaluating his intel. “Wait, you told him to call his daughter?”

Elianna’s worried frown softened into a smile. “She's a bright, level-headed youngster. Surprisingly well-adjusted too.”

“A daughter.”

“Yes. Do keep up.”

“The infamous Cipher Nine has family.”

“Most people do.” Elianna fought to contain a chuckle at Theron's bewilderment.

“Spies don’t. I don’t. _Especially_ not kids.”

“Val does. He has parents too; did you think he was grown in a lab?”

Theron took several moments to shake off his shock then asked, “He always this high-strung?”

“Today’s a good day; he hasn’t blown anything up yet. Any other questions for me to answer vaguely enough that he doesn’t actually kill you?”

“Excuse me,” Lana cut in from across the conference table, “I would prefer we kept this building relatively intact, so if we could return to the task at hand?”

Elianna turned and looked Lana up and down, taking in her sharply pressed suit, her precise posture, her piercing yellow eyes. “Thank you. It was Beniko, wasn’t it?” 

"Just Lana is fine."

Elianna offered a welcoming smile. “I appreciate your help with this whole mess, Lana. And your trust. It can’t be easy working with people who might otherwise attack you on sight.”

"I like to be pragmatic. It is also an honor to meet the woman who so thoroughly dismantled my operation on Tython.”

“You planned that assault? It was tactically brilliant.” Elianna took an enthusiastic step towards Lana before catching herself and schooling her expression into something vaguely resembling Jedi serenity. “I suspect I’d have had a much harder time re-taking the area if your commander- Garno something? Garkos?- actually wanted to hold the ground.”

A flush rose in Lana’s cheeks and for the first time that evening she stumbled over her words, “Thank I… _no, that’s not right_ ,” she mumbled, paused, took a deep breath, then continued in her usual clear voice, “Thank you.”

A light blush crossed Elianna’s face, but she quickly returned to her current mission. “Anyways, I told Val I’d sort something out so we could have a productive briefing, no explosives or murder required. So,” she paused, mulling over ideas and options, “first things first Theron, we need to share how much official SIS sanction we don’t have, otherwise the only thing he’ll trust you to do is stab him in the back. Also, I think…he’ll feel better if he can sweep the room. How long have you been awake?” Before Theron could open his mouth to reply, Elianna continued, “Never mind, don’t answer that, I don’t want to know. Just go find yourself some caf.” Theron hesitated, glancing towards Lana with trepidation. “Oh. I see. Lana, perhaps you could go with Theron? I don’t have time to convince him that if anything, I’m the greater threat in this room. No offense meant to your skills of course but, well...”

Lana nodded and turned to type some final lines into her console. “None taken; you have a reputation as a spectacularly lethal opponent.”

“Yes, that. And I’d appreciate the chance to speak with Val in private.”

“I will attempt to find proper tea. Would you like a beverage?”

“Oh! Thank you! Cocoa, please. Actually, make that two cocoas; Val looked a bit cold and damp.”

While Lana and Theron left in search of drinks, Elianna righted the chair Val must have knocked over and sat down in a dry seat to await his return. If she could just keep Theron and Val from killing each other, this fledgling alliance of theirs might just save the Republic and Empire alike.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will the siblings ever stop being cagey about how they know each other so well? Will Val feel safe enough not to throw in the towel and blow up the whole building?  
> Maybe.  
> I mean to eventually add a few more chapters to Val's Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day, but it's taken me like three years to get this put together so...no promises.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elianna gets a moment alone with her brother.

When Val returned to the conference room, he no longer left a trail of wet footprints in his wake. Elianna looked up from her meditation as she felt him approach, taking in his blank gaze and the towel draped around his shoulders.

“Welcome back. They’re both gone for now.”

Val only nodded as he fiddled with a handheld scanner and swept the room meticulously. Elianna watched him in silence. His hands were steady on his scanner, none of the white-knuckled trembling of earlier, but his ashen face and pinched expression still worried her. Her brother had far too much practice hiding his vulnerabilities behind any number of facades. True, he could have actually calmed down, but he could just as easily have used his walk to merely plaster a convincing layer of calm on top of a roiling well of panic. Over the next several minutes, Val pored over every wall, surface, nook and cranny in the room before finally sitting down stiffly at the table, directly across from the doorway.

“All clear?”

He shot Elianna a withering glare.

“Right. Dumb question. We wouldn’t be here if it weren’t. How about this: are you feeling any better?” Her brother still hadn’t spoken, but he did seem present enough to find her exasperating.

Val looked down at the table and shrugged, but reached up and rubbed the towel through his wiry hair.

“That’s a start at least. Did you talk to anyone, or just glare at Doc until he got the message?”

No, Val shook his head. He settled the towel back down over his shoulders, then reached a hand out towards his sister. When she took it, Val pulled her close to his side and leaned into her. At least he wasn’t pretending at nonchalance.

“Alright. I’ll thank Doc for you later.” Elianna leaned into Val’s touch in return as she pulled up a chair with her free hand and sat, keeping her brother’s head pressed to her chest. If Val wanted physical grounding, well, far be it from her to discourage healthy coping. “Been a pretty shit day, huh?” Val nodded. “Should we holo Da?” Vector had far more experience helping Val through his silences than she did.

Wordlessly, Val slid Elianna’s pocket holo over the table to rest in front of her.

“Sounds like a plan.” It was the work of an instant to punch Vector’s frequency into the holo; some were well-worth memorizing. Anyways, she couldn’t exactly keep an Imperial diplomat’s holo-frequency in her contacts without risking questions she might have to answer with lies.

The holo chimed for a long minute before Vector answered. “Annie! We are glad to see you! Are you well? We did not expect to hear from you for at least another week.”

Elianna smiled. “I’m well Da. But we’d like to talk, are you busy?”

“We have no business that we cannot finish later. We?”

“Val is with me.” She adjusted the holo to capture her brother, who offered a wan smile and a half-hearted wave. “Apparently, he nearly drowned today and then an SIS colleague of mine was stupid enough to startle him. I arrived in time to avoid any bloodshed, but, well…”

"We understand. Valerian, we cannot sense your aura, but we can guess at the discord in your song." As Vector spoke, Val's eyes drifted closed.

"I'm going to stand watch." Elianna pressed a kiss to her brother's hair and stood, moving to lean in the doorway. Val grumbled quietly, but kept his eyes closed and sat back in his own chair.

"Many years ago, before we were Joined or met your mother Niva, we advised first contact missions for the Diplomatic Corps. Places overlooked or abandoned by the Republic where we could build relationships, develop allies discreetly so we were not alone when war finally came. We were sent to a planet called Kirrish on one of our first assignments, a place with such dense jungle and other hostile flora that our superiors didn't dare commit troops to a ground assault….”

* * *

On guard in the doorway, Elianna slowed her breathing and settled her mind to reach out into the Force. They seemed to have caught a moment's respite; she couldn't feel anyone approaching and behind her Val's presence lost some of its brittle tension, relaxing into hazy exhaustion. She felt him say goodbye to their father more than she heard the holocall end and waited a few minutes more before returning from her post.

“Your encryption was out of date,” Val croaked and handed the holo to Elianna as she sat back down beside him.

“Thank you for fixing it. All’s quiet in the hallway. Which story did Da tell this time?”

“The one with the admiral's fuschia pants.” His voice was hoarse, but growing stronger.

“I don’t know if I’ve heard that one yet. I’ll have to ask next time. Glad you're back with us.”

“Hmmm."

"Need to talk about it?"

"Maybe?"

"You were on Nar Shaddaa again."

"Worst moon in the galaxy and it still sneaks up on me sometimes," Val huffed. "They start out with these cloyingly righteous and confident introductions you know, and things just get worse from there. No spectacular explosions this time though, I must be losing my touch."

"Please don't go out and try to defend your reputation Val," his sister laughed, letting him evade into humor. "How will I explain to Ma that we've been banned from an entire planet?" 

"Fine, fine, just because Ma would be disappointed in us." Shaking his head, Val moved on, "How’d you get involved in this, Annie?”

Elianna took a moment to collect herself before answering. Before she'd been sidetracked by saving Theron's life and rescuing Val, Elianna had come searching for answers. “Colonel Darok, the ‘army bimbo’ you mentioned earlier, asked for my help invading Korriban, then I had to recapture Tython the instant I got back to spacedock.”

“And the SIS?”

Force, but her brother could be single-minded sometimes. “Theron was their liaison to the operation. How about you? Don’t you usually dodge calls from Council members?”

“Hah! They played dirty; Military Defense waited until I was already in a room with them before ‘requesting’ I help Offense plan an invasion. Even I’m not stubborn enough to refuse Darth Marr to his face. Mask? Helmet? Whatever. Not when he usually makes such an effort to woo me.” Val scowled. “Then the intel was way too good so I wanted to know whether Arkous was being stupidly overconfident or hiding things, and Lana wasn’t bad company. For a Sith.”

“Darok gave me a medal afterwards to try to deflect me from prying. A medal!” Elianna snorted. “As if I don’t have too many of the damn things already!”

Val grabbed his sister’s shoulder in solidarity. “Yep. Arkous blew me off, but I know an inside job when I see one. And really, what else did he expect, recruiting an Intelligence officer? Unless Marr foisted me on him to keep an eye out.” A contemplative look spread across Val’s face.

“Maybe. I don’t know enough about Marr to guess at how he plays Council politics and infighting. Anyways, the op didn’t feel ‘stolen superweapon’ hinky so it wasn’t perfectly in my wheelhouse, but Tython’s the headquarters of my entire order. There were younglings and acolytes there. I can’t leave them vulnerable like that, even though we managed to protect them this time.”

“How do we know the SIS isn’t in on it?”

“Someone absolutely is, but not Theron. Darok pulled a lot of strings, including some very unsubtle ones, trying to discourage each of us from prying.”

“Could be a feint. He could be running a game on you.”

“I don’t think he is.”

“Annie-”

“Look, Theron barely gets along with his bosses at the best of times -don’t look surprised, I have sources too-, and don’t you think that if he were part of a secret conspiracy to undermine the Republic he’d at least try to avoid suspicion by toeing the company line? Right now he’s going directly against sanction.” Val scowled, but she caught a hint of thoughtfulness in his eyes. She pressed her advantage. “I’ve seen first hand how wildly unethical SIS ops can be, they’ve tapped me to clean up the fallout before, but this isn’t one of them. This is me, looking into a Colonel who got my people hurt, with the help of another person he tried his damnedest to screw over. Theron may be part of the SIS, but right now he’s working with me for my Council.

“You don’t need to trust him or like him, Val. Just believe that he’s not stupid enough to cross me.” She put a hand on top of his, pressing both their fingers harder into her shoulder.

“I won’t run ops with him,” Val ground out between his teeth.

“I won’t ask you to.” Leaning in closer, she pressed their foreheads together.

“Fine.”

“A truce?”

“A truce. I promise not to shoot him until he actually causes problems.”

“Thank you. Now, do you have the chair you want? Where should I sit?”

Val rolled his eyes and pulled back. “Don’t patronize me, Annie; you know I want you on my left. Where did Lana get off to, anyways?”

“I sent them on a caf run so we could talk.” Elianna stood and changed seats, moving to guard Val’s cybernetic side.

“Oh. Thanks.”

“What are big sisters for if not clearing a room when you need a minute?” she ribbed gently. “I’ll send Theron the all clear.” It was the work of but a moment to jab a message into her holo.

“Do we want to tell them why we really know each other?” Val asked. “Neither of them is stupid, they’ll go digging if we leave them curious.”

“You’d feel safe with that?”

“Well, it’s not like there’s any record of Kollaris in the Empire, Ma was too much of a ghost after she got out of Hutt space, and my name’s been wiped for ages. As long as we don’t give either of Da’s names, I doubt even the best Imperial slicers could track us, let alone the incompetents the SIS has on staff. More risky to let them draw their own conclusions.”

“As long as you’re sure. Me or you?”

“You make the introduction, I just want to watch your agent’s face. It’ll be funnier anyways, he’ll have to believe the word of a bona fide Jedi Master.”

A laugh burst from Elianna’s lungs. “You are a menace Val, a certifiable menace.”

“Only thing I’ll ever plead guilty to.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, this chapter took several months instead of a few years! Progress!  
> And yes, I am absolutely incapable of writing serious things without adding comedy.
> 
> Next time: Will our intrepid heroes actually manage to share information about the Order of Revan, or will Val and Theron just snipe at each other until the cows come home?


End file.
